MK Calling 2020

The MK Calling 2020 show, opens this weekend at MK Gallery​, with over 130 amazing artists. This exhibition includes two framed drawings of community events and four of my sketchbooks. The sketches on show cover the period from roughly mid-2017 to the present, many featuring scenes in Milton Keynes. These look at public and community spaces, and how they are used. More recently I have started to focus on how these spaces are used to provide peer support.

Saturday 15 February- Sunday 17 May 2020

FREE ENTRY

Gallery blurb:

Featuring over 130 artists across five world class gallery spaces, MK Calling is MK Gallery’s first open call submission exhibition in the majorly developed and extended building that reopened in March 2019. The exhibition will showcase a range of established and up and coming artists, very much celebrating what is happening today in contemporary art.

MK Calling will be showcasing the most dynamic work being made today including work by Royal Academicians, and alumni of The British Art Show, John Moores Painting Prize and New Contemporaries.

The show features numerous pieces that address and challenge many contemporary issues such as the environment and the political climate, as well as a number of playful and performance works. With the exhibition taking place in the new town of Milton Keynes and with a third of artists local to the area, a lot of the work also looks at cities and architecture.

Artists:

Ikran Abdille | Miraj Ahmed | Saint Akua | Giuseppe Alfano & Roisin Callaghan | Chris Alton | Bronya Arcsizewska | Artist I. Relevant | Astrid Baerndal | Bill Balaskas | Bianca Barandun | Pietro Bardini | Charlie Barkus | Namen Basil | Anna Berry | Daniel Blumberg | Boyd & Evans | Eleanor Breeze | Melanie Bush | Lil Cahill | Nathan Caldecott | Ciara Callaghan | Phil Carney | Priya Chohan-Padia | Sarawut Chutiwongpeti | Jonny Clapham | Dovile Dagiene-Doda | Shona Davies | Dave Monaghan & Jon Klein | Charlie Denning | Edward Durdey | Lee Farmer | French & Mottershead | Doug Foster | Archie Franks | Abi Freckleton | Emi Fujisawa | John Garrad | GLRGNYNK | Fiona Grady | Garth Gratrix | Thomas Gray | Lucy Gregory | Habib Hajallie | Emily Hawes | Aaron Head | Rebecca Herbert | Fabienne Hess | Dave Hilliard | Len Hollman | Gareth Horner | Will Hurt | Dawn Iles | Hannah Jean Moulds | Permindar Kaur | Judy Kendrick-Simonsen | Neil Kilby | Adam King | Jane King | Kyle Kirkpatrick | Anna Lann & Jonathan Tritcher | Penthouss | Karolina Lebek | Fei Li | Dasha Loyko | Andrew Macdermott | Henrietta MacPhee | Rachel Magdeburg | Nick Malone | Morag McInnes | Sean Michael Pearce | Verity Millest | Elisabeth Molin | Callum Monteith | Stuart Moore | Nazanin Moradi | Adam Neal | Raymond O'Daly | Kate Parrott | Jam Patel | Sharda Patel | Marion Piper | Lisa-Marie Price | Jonathan Purnell | Paul B Rainey | Suzanna Raymond | Thom Rees | Dorothea Reid | Yande Ren | Graeme Roach | Dave Ronalds | Linnet Panashe Rubaya | Rekha Sameer | Mark Scammell | Abbie Schug | Christina Shelagh Mongelli | Martyn Simpson | Cecilia Sjoholm | Rebecca Smart | Ritu Sood | Stephanie Spindler | Bob Spriggs | Johanna Tagada Hoffbeck | James Tebbutt | Tracing the Pathway | Sebastian Thomas | James Owen Thomas | Elizabeth Tomos | Roxy Topia & Paddy Gould | Anna Townley | Dina Tses | Anna Turner | Miles Umney | Guillaume Vandame | Wai Wai Pang | Vilas | Elizabeth Walker | Lufeianna Wang | Sally Waterman | Emma Wilde | Mark Wilsher | Arianne Wilson | Iain Woods | Josh Wright | Rachel Wright | Cherilyn Yeates | Henry Yeomans

Sketchy Plans 2019

My first sketching event was outside the newly refurbished MK Gallery

A Short History of Drawing Around Milton Keynes

It turns out that 2019 became the year I started running events for a Milton Keynes sketch group. This is a Facebook group that I initially took over from local artist Dave Hilliard, who had run a few events before I showed up. As another local group had ground to a halt after three events, I knew that if I wanted to see more events in the area I had better start running them myself. So I took the opportunity to try and create my first local arts programme for sketching in urban spaces.

My intention was to run a few events using my community engagement experience. I was also aiming to shed more light on the benefits of urban sketching, activities that were proven in more established groups in Bedford, Northampton, London and other areas. Taking a  few pointers from Dave, who had been part of the Northampton group, we made a start around the time that the refurbished Milton Keynes Gallery was due to re-launch.

Our first event took place in Margaret Powell Square, which sits just outside MK Theatre and the art gallery. Our second event was inside the galleries, taking advantage of the first exhibition called "Lie Of the Land", which seemed quite appropriate for an urban landscape sketch group.. In August we made it to our landmark fifth event. This means that I have now run more urban sketching events in MK than any other local organiser. I've taken a short break, to attend to other matters, but I hope to get back to scheduling more local events soon.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Suzanna Raymond (@srfirehorseart) on Jul 21, 2019 at 1:44pm PDT

A Day Trip to Regents Park

To make sure I understood the basic model for sketching events, I joined the Urban Sketchers London group in July for an all-day sketch trip around Regents Park. This was a fun, informative event and I even got one of their badges! Their 'Draw London' event ran from 11:00 in the morning until 3:30 in the afternoon. These sketch gatherings were run as free events with no booking required.

As I arrived in Regents Park a little late, due to misjudging how long it'd take me to get to the start point, I was worried I'd miss the group. However, the group leader had stayed by the inner circle gates long past the start time to direct latecomers. As a bonus, I also ended up meeting local contact Sophie, who had started the Bedford urban sketchers group, and she gave me a few pointers. We formed a small group with a guy visiting from Hamburg and London member Elvin, who knew the group leader.

Our group went looking for a spot to sketch from and ended up diving into the Benugo cafe when it started to rain. We had two other sketchers join us at our table. As I wanted to know why everyone was there and what kind of sketchers they were, I was keen to chat to everyone. In the end we learnt a lot about each other while were sketching. After lunch, when we relocated to the next meeting point, I had a similar experience seated next to another sketcher on a bench facing a fountain.

Sitting in a central public space also turned out to be a good way to meet up with people you know, as I spotted graphic novel legends Paul Gravett and Peter from Comica London and Escape books taking a stroll around the Triton Fountain. We had a bit of a catch-up chat before they continued on their way.

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A post shared by Suzanna Raymond (@srfirehorseart) on Jul 23, 2019 at 11:32am PDT

In the end I stayed for the whole thing, including sketchbook throw-downs and group photos. From my point of view the event was a success, as I found out that my events are run in a similar format to that of a more established group. I also found out a lot about how and why these groups are run and what else may work for drawing sessions in my own area.

It turned out, from speaking to others with more experience, that becoming an official urban sketchers group is something that'll have to wait until we have more active members. Otherwise, we seem to be doing fine, albeit with less strict guidelines about what members post to the MK group. I look forward to hopefully enticing more people out of their homes with a sketchbook to explore their local area.



Links:

Drawing Around Milton Keynes (Facebook)
Urban Sketchers London chapter

Eventful sketching

MK Lit Fest 2018

MK Lit Fest 2018 announcement

Residency

It is the second year of the new literary festival for Milton Keynes and this year the organisers have selected me to be their artist in residence. This will be a new experience for both of us, so I'm excited to see how it'll work out. I'm always happy to sketch indoors with tea and books on tap, so it should be fun.

Last year I went to MK Litfest mainly to see how the event represented diversity and I was pleasantly surprised. I ended up enjoying the talks more than I expected and took some sketch notes at the event which I shared on Instagram, tagging in the event's authors and publishers.

The organisers liked my drawings so much that they've asked me back as their artist in residence. I'm looking forward to sharing my best sketches with everyone via Facebook and Instagram. I've already shared a sketch I made at one of their 'taster' events at MK Gallery.

I'm also looking forward to seeing a print copy of 'MinK, their new 52-page literary zine, at the launch event on the 21st September. There should be an online version too for those unable to attend the festival.

This year's event runs from Friday 21st through to Monday 24th September at the Holiday Inn in central Milton Keynes. You can find out more about it here: https://www.mklitfest.org/

Location sketching

If you want to see examples of other people sketching on location I'd recommend Dutch illustrator Maaike Hartjes for a cartoon (comics) based style, Canadian journalist and war artist Richard Johnson's line drawings, artist and author James Gurney for painting on location, plus a whole raft of urban sketchers.

MK Fifty

Pathfinding

A quick post, in case you've wondered what else I've been up to in 2017, the year that Milton Keynes turned fifty years old.

Soon after the MK Calling exhibition at MK Galley, I had a solo exhibition at Stantonbury Gallery, Milton Keynes.

This exhibition at Stantonbury Campus explored the unpredictable nature of the urban landscape and the winding path of the emerging artist. These paths were represented by a series of works created during and after my Fine Art degree. The images look at the contemporary art world and the contemporary urban world, asking you to enquire about the usefulness of endeavour in the face of the temporary nature of success and the variety of ways achievements are absorbed by and re-purposed by the environment they exist in. These vignettes of decisive moments in the paths creative artists tread, mark the progress across unclear boundaries between achievement and failure, death and renewal.

Works on show included photographic prints from my degree final project. As my sketchbooks had been a popular item at MK Calling, I brought a few of those along to share at the private view.

Whilst this was a small event, it at least afforded me a sense of closure about my degree work, as I was able to show more of my final work to the public. This made up for the lack of a final university degree exhibition, a rite of passage which most fine art degree students expect as a matter of course. My final work had been displayed at the University of Northampton for grading by my tutors but unfortunately the university didn't permit me to share this with my friends and the general public at the time.

You can find a couple of photos about the Pathfinder exhibition on Instagram.

A post shared by Suzanna Raymond (@srfirehorseart) on Jul 9, 2017 at 2:56pm PDT

Image: Untitled (Path), a triptych of photographic prints, mounted on board.  Approx. (h. 430cm x w. 230 cm) x 3.

A post shared by Suzanna Raymond (@srfirehorseart) on Jul 11, 2017 at 2:46pm PDT

Installation view of Pathfinder at Stantonbury Gallery. The empty plinths were used to display some of my sketchbooks on the day of the private view but could equally be taken to represent the ephemeral nature of some artworks and artists' careers.

MK Calling 2017

Celebrating the urban landscape of Milton Keynes.

The next MK Calling exhibition at Milton Keynes gallery previews on April 20th. This show was an open call for artists interested in architecture, construction and links to Milton Keynes. I'll be showing my urban sketches as part of this event, which fits in well with my current work. You can read more about my urban sketching in MK on my new page: https://srfirehorseart.blogspot.co.uk/p/gallery.html

MK is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year and the gallery is opening the space again for this show before the site is re-developed over the next two years. When the refurbished gallery re-opens it should have more space and facilities like a cafe.

This spring, MK Gallery showcases new and exciting work by over 70 emerging and established artists in MK Calling 2017. This exhibition is designed to celebrate the breadth of creativity around Milton Keynes and will include a wide range of art forms alongside a dynamic programme of events and participatory sessions.

- from the MK Gallery website http://www.mkgallery.org/exhibitions/mk_calling_2017/

It's great to be showing at the gallery again, with a theme that I'm currently exploring. Everyone is invited and MK Gallery are promising music, food and drink (as well as the art of course) at the preview.

The exhibition runs until 27 May 2017.

Back to Sketching

A photo posted by Suzanna Raymond | Artist | (@srfirehorseart) on Aug 10, 2016 at 2:42pm PDT

A Return to the Drawing Board

My plans for 2016 were many and varied but tackling problems this year has turned out to like wrestling a many-tentacled octopus - as fast as you tackle one arm another appears. As such I have been short of time and energy, so I had to focus more on opportunities as they presented themselves rather than chasing more ambitious plans. Learning to be more focused and efficient with my time could be a good thing in the long run.

So, here's what has actually happened with my work in 2016:

I've spent a lot more time on Instagram - it's a quick way for visual artists to share their work on social media, if you don't need to edit your images much first. Although the site lends itself better to high-impact images rather than conceptual projects, if you can tick both boxes you're onto a winner for promoting your work. Whilst people can and do comment on pictures, if you want a longer discussion you may be better off on Facebook.

Instagram has inspired me to return to sketching and, as my interest is in the urban landscape, this has meant urban sketching. Urban sketching is quite a big thing it seems, with international groups (chapters), so I'm enjoying dipping my toe into this new world.

One of my urban sketches became the basis of a page of comics artwork for the GirlFrenzy to CroneFrenzy zine, which was published online and the artwork was printed for an exhibition with Rachael House's event at the Supernormal arts festival in Oxfordshire. Girl Frenzy editor Erica Smith created the event's online zine https://issuu.com/ericawordsmith/docs/gftocfissuu

The same page of artwork is now heading off to show in an open call exhibition at Winchester Gallery, Winchester School of Art as part of the Small Press : Independent Comics and Self Publishing event 24th - 28th October 2016.

My foray back into comics also led to a conversation with Milton Keynes Gallery about running another comics-based event. The last one, the MKomix event, was linked to their show of Pushwagner's comic book inspired work in 2012. The gallery agreed and the Thursday Scratch Nights MK Zine, Comic and Indie Publishers Meet up is happening on Thursday 13th October from 7pm.

Something Old Something New - 2016

A photo posted by Suzanna Raymond (@srfirehorseart) on Oct 9, 2015 at 10:00am PDT

Welcome to 2016 and congratulations on getting through January if you've just done your tax return (more on that in another post)!

As luck would have it, my art year started with a photography competition that was easy to enter. I just had to point the organisers to an image (see above) I'd shared on social media last year. Once the photo made it to the shortlist, all the finalists then went to a public vote, which you can still help me with ...

Please help me out by voting (until 5th February) for 'Car Park Drama' at the MKsmart photo competition public vote page. Many thanks!

It was interesting for me to note that my image, created with a smartphone camera and app, joined a shortlist of pictures taken on better equipment. The size of my image means that any prints would be relatively small but the fact that my picture made a shortlist proves to me that it's worth making the most of timing and a good viewpoint, regardless of what camera you use. It would more professional to use better quality camera kit but I find that a smartphone allows for more freedom when taking quick shots. It lets me get away with taking a lot of shots that might have never happened if I'd had to keep a D-SLR slung around my neck, or in the boot of my car. As smartphone cameras improve, I expect to see a lot more photography entries like mine in the future.

Part of my preference for using a smartphone for urban photography is that few people question anyone stopping to take a shot with a phone in a shopping centre or busy public space, as it is currently such a common activity. Also my cameraphone is always on hand, whereas a D-SLR might require more than one trip if I needed to plan the shot. Some locations that put restrictions on photography may require asking for permission to take a picture with an SLR or a decent pocket camera but smartphones don't seem to attract the same scrutiny, unless there's an over-zealous security guard around.

I'd be interested to know if you value image quality and print size over capturing the moment. What do you think is more important for your favourite images?

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Winners of the online vote will be announced at the exhibition and networking event at Gallery 200 in Milton Keynes College. Click here to book your place at the event on Friday 5th February.